Liver Cancer Support Group

Hepatic tumors are tumors or growths on or in the liver. These growths can be benign or malignant (cancerous). They may be discovered on medical imaging (even for a different reason than the cancer itself), or may present in patients as an abdominal mass, hepatomegaly, abdominal pain, jaundice, or some other liver dysfunction.

Treatment for liver cancer

I am seeking advice on what type of treatment to get for liver cancer for my brother in law. The doctors say he has hepatitis C and cirrhosis of the liver from alcohol intake. He was hospitalized and under went tests including a ct scan, sonogram and is now awaiting results from a biopsy of the liver. In the meantime he was released from the hospital and is in bed, very weak and not eating much, and has a swollen abdomen. He is taking a diuretic and no other medications. He is waiting to see his doctors next week to get the final diagnosis. However, we are in Puerto Rico and we are not satisfied with his doctors and would like to seek other medical assistance.

In the event the diagnosis is cancer of the liver we would like advice on what doctors to talk with and what treatments to consider. Already we have been told about having surgery for a liver replacement, or removing part of the liver, or no surgery and treating the liver with less invasive techniques such as medicines and herbs. There are medical specialists on the web that offer so many things, but it is difficult to know what one should really do?

Can anyone give some sound practical advice from experience? We are looking for a good doctor preferably in Florida. We would like to know what treatments he uses for hepatitis C and cancer (HCC) of the liver?

Hello and welcome. I'm sorry that I can't be of much help. I haven't any experience with Hep. C but my husband did have liver cancer. He underwent a transplant last year but, prior to the transplant, he had a sort of chemo that was injected thru his femur? artery and directly into the tumor. He was seeing a liver specialist and the proceedure was preformed by an intraventional radiologist. There are some on this list that have had different treatments for liver cancer and perhaps they'll see your post. For the time being, I would have your brother in law rest, take his med. and concentrate on getting some strength back while you wait for the results. After the results, you should have a better idea of what you are dealing with and the dr. should give you advice on where to go next. There is lots of info. on the web regarding LC but you might want to wait and be sure that is the problem.Meanwhile, take care
Annie

one of my doc's wants me go thru a teatment for the hep c i had 30 years ago and is the cause of my liver cancer. funny thing about this one cancer, it is very slow. the treatment is a long one , takes about 6 months to rid the liver of the virus for hep c. and the side effects are not much fun , was told it will like having a bad case of flu. he is a GI doc.

hi, my mom has the same thing alcoholic for many years and hep c they said she had it for 10 yrs when she found out. she went through the 6 month trtmnt for hep c and it was gone but she began to swell in the abdomen and taking 3 diuretics did nothing so the did a procedure called TIPS which is where the insert a catheter through jugular vein and to liver so your liver will not get clogged up. that helped alot with the swelling no more problems there. However at 6 month retest for hep c it was back. they found cancer on liver also and after measuring tumor said it was too large to remove so she is receiving chemo injected into tumor and so far she has had 1 and was pretty sick for about a week but feels good now and they wait 3 wks between treatmnts. They told her once a tumor is over 5cm there is no longer a cure and transplant is next option. She has been thru the testing and was approved for transplant and is now on the waiting list. We are in oklahoma and transplants are done by region so they say 2wks-6months waiting. I hope this info has helped you and if you need anything let me know.

my husband died on Augest 29 from liver cancer, and he was 28 years old and we have two children, five and three. the doctors took there time to diagnosis him, in the time they did the biopsy and when they gave us the results it was to late for surgery, his cancer didnt come from hep c or cirrhosis, they didnt know where it came from they said bad luck, he lasted 1 year and 9 months, every day i noticed him sleeping more and eating less, i know he was sick but when he was awake his behavior was quite normal, he didint act like he was dieing,even unitl a month before we had jsut went on a three mile hike to when i say i this can happen to your loved on it can if u dont do something NOW. so my advice to u is chemo dont do SHIT sorry for my words but i wish some one would have told me the truth. thats why i joined this group to help inform u who dont want this outcome to happpen to u. find a doctor that will do the surgy or transplant because if u dont time will go by quickly and the tumor will only grow, until the point were nothing can stop it, he will began to sleep more than he will be awake, eat VERY little or maybe only drink, if not removed his tumor will grow no matter what chemo or herbs u give him I TRIED IT ALL, herps, vitames, preventa meds for cancer, tonics,body cleaners. the longer hs has that tumor sitting inside him the less time u have with him. i hate to say it but if u really want my advice this is the bitter truth, the doctors will NEVER tell u how serious this condition is and they wont tell u when he is getting worse u know him and if u take the sunglasses off ur eyes and take a good look at him, ur family will be the ones who will know if he is getting better or when its turing in a different direction. DO NOT WAITE. i read some of these suport groups when my husband first got sick and thought ya right wont happen to us were on top of the doctors but we were wrong they only wanted to experiment with differnet drugs, becasue there is NO chemo drug made for cancer they are tring to combine different drugs do see if they can slow down the progress. when talked about an option of surgy or transplant,they said, lets see if we can srink the tumor and then surgy will be an option later, or they sell u on the idea of having good research and great improvment rates for this drug, we went all over New Mexico UNM, Lovelace,Presbertarin, Cancer center of NM, also to Texas to MD Anderson AKA the best in the world or at least the US NOT liver cancer cant be treated only removed!!! i know u really care about ur brother in law or why would u take ur time to post and ask questions so i wanted to tell u my experence and if in any way i can help u, let me know ill check back here in a day or two.

I understand you are going through a very difficult time. My dad was diganosed with Hep C in 2003. He had it since he was thee years old due to a blood transfusion. He was put on a new drug in 2003 known as Inferon which has proven to be effective in reducing/putting the Hep C virus into submission. Unfortunetly, years later the disease progressed and he developed cancer. He was able to obtain a liver transplant. After seeing my dad go through two different procedures and doing a little research of my own, I would suggest a combined treatment as suggested by his doctors. I know that you are in Puerto Rico and I am in Chicago, but the team of doctors my family worked with at Northwestern University were wonderful. I'm more than confident that if you got in contact with one of them via email or phone they would be able to suggest a medical proffessional in your area. Furthermore, the team of doctors I worked with are at the fore front of hep research and like any field I'm assuming it is a small community of professionals who are researching this disease. I worked with Dr. Laura M. Kulik and her phone number is (312) 695-4837. I hope this helps.

My husband passed away on Nov. 2 of Liver Cancer. He had Hep C since Vietnam which in turn caused cirrhosis and then cancer. He was in a trial in Boston being treated for the Hep C when they found the one tumor in his liver. They removed that tumor with RFA and then put him on the transplant list. We were very happy and began waiting for a liver. They scanned his liver every three months to see what was going on and each time I would pray everything would be alright. The wait went on and after ten months on the list the scan showed several small tumors. He was removed from the list and then they began what is called TACE or chemoembolization. They did it twice in 2008 and twice the beginning of this year. If anyone has any questions about RFA or TACE or interferon or anything in general I would be glad to share. I am missing my husband something awful right now and talking about it helps. I am a new member here so Hello to all.
Take Care, Ellen

I have liver cancer and have been on chemo. The chemo has helped slow down the growth and stabilize the cancer. I'm not a candidate for surgery since there are many little tumors spread throughout the liver.

The best options would be to get on a transplant list. If you or another love one has the same blood type, part of the liver can be donated.

I'm on the transplant list right now and waiting to see if my cousin is match. Keep him strong and eating. Transplant surgeries take time and strength to recover from.

Find a center of excellence . Go to the BEST. I am at Northwestern in Chicago. Cleveland Clinic will give you an opinion as well. Do you research and you will know more than your docs in PR. Really. Good luck to you

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